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So I’m writing this at around 2 in the morning. Can’t sleep and the dog puked on my bed yesterday morning (which I didn’t discover until shortly before going to bed last night). I can’t use the washing machine until the morning because it’ll wake everyone up so I’m basically just lying on a bare mattress. So I decided to look at baseball stats, something normal people who can’t sleep do, and I came across some pretty mind-boggling ones, some good, some bad.

Cardinals INF Matt Carpenter hit into zero double plays in 2018

Carpenter did this despite playing 156 out of 162 games and having 677 plate appearances. Even Billy Hamilton, the fastest man in baseball, got doubled up once. Carpenter does not have Hamilton’s wheels, not by a long shot, yet still hit into 0 double plays.

Dee Gordon walked just 9 times

Gordon was almost as likely to hit a triple as he was to draw a walk (he hit 8 triples). His 1.5% walk rate was the worst in baseball by nearly double the next closest (Salvador Perez, who walked 17 times for next worst total, at a 3.1% rate). Gordon had 588 plate appearances, most of which occurred at or near the top of the Mariners’ lineup.

Every single player who had enough at bats to qualify hit at least 2 home runs

Mallex Smith hit the fewest home runs by a player to qualify for a batting title with just 2. However he hit .296 and stole 40 bases so I doubt the Rays care too much. Was a little surprised to see there weren’t any zeros in that column, but that’s the game we have today.

Victor Martinez was the 3rd-hardest player to strike out (9.6%), yet somehow managed to finish with the second-worst WAR in the majors (-1.7)

With so many great seasons under his belt, Martinez is retiring as one of the greats. However, his final hurrah left a lot to be desired, though the low strikeout rate suggests he’s still seeing the plate well, just nothing else.

The Orioles, Royals, and White Sox all tied for the lowest team walk rates at 7%

What do these teams have in common? They all lost 100 games. Patience is a virtue.

Khris Davis hit exactly .247 for the fourth consecutive year

I don’t even know how that’s possible. He’s also doing this while increasing his home run, RBI, and run totals each of those years as well.

The Orioles had a collective team WAR of 2.7

And this is including the performance put forth by Manny Machado in the first half. Basically, if you fielded a bunch of bench guys for an entire season, they would only win 2 fewer games than the Orioles did in 2018. For reference, the next worst team was the Giants at 7.3. The best? The Dodgers at 33.0.

You were more likely to get hit by Chris Sale (14 HBPs) than homer off him (11 homers allowed)

The only other guy who can come close to this is Trevor Bauer, who has both hit 9 batters and served up 9 home runs.

Josh Hader struck out 143 batters in 81.1 innings out of the bullpen. That’s more than 17 other starting pitchers who threw at least 150 innings.

This list includes Felix Hernandez, Jake Arrieta, and CC Sabathia, all former Cy Young winners.

Rays starting pitchers struck out just 667 batters. 221 (nearly a third) of those are Blake Snell’s.

The kid broke out in a HUGE way in 2018 and is a serious candidate for AL Cy Young.

Speaking of Rays strikeouts, their bullpen led the Majors in bullpen K’s with 754.

Their relievers struck out nearly 100 more batters than the starters, though I guess that’s to be expected when you use the opener pitching staff. They edged the Yankees (who feature the likes of Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances) by a single punchout for the MLB lead.

Thanks to the Opener strategy, the Rays got 824.1 innings out of their bullpen, which led the Majors.

Second most? The A’s with 641.1.

The Orioles had just 28 saves as a team.

I have two fun stats to go with this one. Number 1, the San Francisco Giants BLEW more saves (30) than the Orioles converted. Number 2, Mariners closer Edwin Diaz more than doubled the Orioles’ saves total by himself. In fact, Diaz saved more games (57) than the Orioles won (47).

The best defensive team in the Majors? The Diamondbacks with 118 DRS. The worst? The Phillies with -136 DRS.

So I’m mainly just posting this because it’s been a while since I actually posted a blog but there really hasn’t been much to write about of late. I won’t be really hitting NBA playoffs until the Finals roll around because I just simply don’t care. We all knew the final four were going to be Warriors, Rockets, Cavaliers, Celtics so by actually divulging this would’ve been pointless. I also didn’t want to delve too much into the allegations against Matt Patricia from decades ago that are just now surfacing because there’s very little to go off of. I’ll wait for when we have more information before I go into that. Otherwise there really isn’t a whole lot going on to speak of. But I’ve got a couple days off from work coming up so I’ll probably figure something out to do over that time. If not I might just talk about some NFL rookies that are best set up for early success (and worst) if nothing more important comes up. That’s the only real idea I have so far (the reason I’m not writing this now is because I got home late from work and am just not in the mood to write anything substantial). But since there really isn’t anything major going on in sports right now, I’m going to try and think of some more long-form pieces to give a try at. If you have any suggestions for what you’d want to see, definitely let me know and if I like your idea I’ll write my thoughts on it. But anyway, thanks as always for reading. Even if nobody reads, though, I’ll still keep doing it. It’s just fun for me.

-The Pistons fired head coach Stan Van Gundy after a few mediocre seasons with the team. Granted, the Pistons were a shitshow before SVG got there, but they haven’t been able to get above “contending for the 8 seed” territory, which is about the worst place you can be in today’s NBA (not good enough to contend for a title, not bad enough to get a top Draft pick, which tends to be franchise-altering nowadays). The Pistons made the playoffs once in his 4-year tenure but failed to win a playoff series. It wouldn’t shock me to see SVG land another job sometime in the near future, as his resume speaks for itself (led the Orlando Magic to their only NBA Finals appearance back in 2009) and he certainly won’t be the last NBA head coach to get his walking papers as the offseason moves along in these coming weeks.

-The San Francisco Giants continue to get ravaged by the injury bug as this time it has hit Johnny Cueto. Cueto suffered a sprained elbow and will miss the next 6-8 weeks. This couldn’t come at a worse time for the Giants as they’re one of the hottest teams in baseball at the moment, having won 13 of their last 18 games entering Monday night (this is being written before the conclusion of their tilt with the Phillies). Cueto was bouncing back in a MAJOR way this season. After having an ERA well over 4 last season, Cueto was pacing the Majors in that category at 0.84 and was pitching some of the best baseball of his life, which is saying something considering the run of success he had with the Reds in one of the most hitter-friendly ballparks in the game. It’s a tough blow for the Giants, who are looking to try and make the playoffs and considering how good the Diamondbacks and Rockies have been looking of late, that task seems to be made even tougher without Cueto for up to 2 months.

-The Carolina Panthers are signing former Broncos runningback CJ Anderson to a 1-year deal. After releasing Jonathan Stewart in the offseason, I was surprised the Panthers didn’t get another bigger runningback to shoulder the bulk of the carries in the Draft so that Christian McCaffrey can continue to do scat back stuff. Anderson isn’t a flashy player by any means but he’s consistently solid and was the Broncos’ #1 back when they beat the Panthers in Super Bowl L. He’s also a very similar style of player to the departed Stewart and is 4 years younger so one can argue it’s an improvement on multiple fronts.

-The Saints are releasing tight end Coby Fleener after 2 years of a 5 year deal. Fleener was a pretty big disappointment in New Orleans as he and Drew Brees never really developed the connection you would’ve expected given how much Brees liked to target Jimmy Graham in the past. However Fleener managed just 72 catches for 826 yards and 5 TD’s over his 2 years with the team. The Saints were reportedly interested in bringing back Graham, but he signed with the Packers instead, leading many to speculate the Saints had tight end as a high priority. Then they traded up 13 spots in the Draft, including giving up next year’s first round pick, to select UTSA’s Marcus Davenport and didn’t draft any tight ends, making this release a little more surprising to me. As of right now, the tight end roster in New Orleans features a 37 year-old Ben Watson, Michael Hoomanawanui, and Josh Hill of note. Watson has had success in this offense in the past so perhaps that’s the reason why they weren’t in any hurry to get another tight end and were comfortable in letting Fleener walk.

-I didn’t blog about this when it happened due to my being in my finals-related hiatus, but on April 20, White Sox reliever Danny Farquhar suffered a brain aneurysm and collapsed in the dugout during the game. He had to be rushed to the hospital with this affliction that has taken so many lives. Luckily, Farquhar survived and he was finally able to return home yesterday for the first time. Hopefully Farquhar is able to make a full recovery and can continue to create a positive impact on this world, whether that be on the baseball diamond or in other ventures.

-So Vlad Guerrero Jr continues to be the most talked-about minor leaguer in the game today. Here’s something from a segment he was doing with Carlos Pena for MLB Network.

I don’t think the average person quite understands just how impressive this is. A lot of the power behind hitting a home run comes from how fast the pitch is being thrown. Normally guys don’t hit the ball very far off the tee because it’s just sitting still. Well Guerrero Jr is 19 years old and he’s putting a still baseball into the right field seats. This kid is going to be something special and if he’s just half of what his father was, the Blue Jays will have a guy to build around for the next 10 years.

That’s going to do it for this edition of General Sports. Let me know what you think of the topics discussed in the comments section below or on Facebook or Twitter @jimwyman10.

With Thursday’s 2018 NFL Draft quickly approaching, it got me to thinking back towards last year’s event. During this week of draft coverage that I’ve been doing, I’ve been doing my best to abstain from going into too much depth over the 2017 class because we just don’t know what we have with each player as of yet. In 2016, Jared Goff, who was taken #1 overall by the Rams, was looking like a colossal bust. He didn’t win a single game as a rookie and he looked totally overwhelmed by NFL competition. Enter a new head coach in Sean McVay and Goff became one of the NFL’s most efficient quarterbacks and helped lead the Rams to a division title. There’s also Robert Griffin III in 2012. He set the league on fire as a rookie but a knee injury in the playoffs followed by being rushed back to play before he was ready sapped him of his explosiveness and his weaknesses as a passer were exposed. So quite frankly, we really don’t know what we have in the young stars like Deshaun Watson, Alvin Kamara, and Kareem Hunt or with the unknowns like Mike Williams and John Ross. But let’s take a look at how the first round went last year and see how these guys did and what it means for their futures in the league. The number in parentheses is where they ranked on my Big Board.

1. Cleveland Browns-Myles Garrett-EDGE-Texas A&M (1)

Garrett struggled with injuries as a rookie but when he was on the field, he was a beast. He played 11 games and recorded 7 sacks, including 2 in his first game. If he can stay healthy, he looks like he’s going to be a beast off the edge for the Browns.

Trubisky basically just played like a rookie. He had some good moments but he also made his share of mistakes. He ended up going 4-8 as a starter and threw for 2193 yards with 7 TD’s and 7 picks while completing just 59% of his passes. Not great, but there’s something there with him. He’s getting a new head coach in Matt Nagy, who likes to run RPO’s and we saw how well Nick Foles did with those in the playoffs. He’s also actually getting a supporting cast of receivers, as the Bears signed Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel in the offseason.

Thomas didn’t do a ton as a rookie, but he didn’t really need to. He played 14 games but he started 12 of them and only recorded 3 sacks. He did flash some of the ability that made him the third overall pick, though, and we’ll have to wait and see how he grows in year 2.

4. Jacksonville Jaguars-Leonard Fournette-RB-LSU (3)

Fournette basically did exactly what I expected him to do, which is to be the Jaguars’ bellcow and he was the focal point of their offense. He rushed for 1040 yards with 9 TD’s and while his YPC wasn’t great (3.9), that can be attributed to the fact that he was the only real weapon on Jacksonville’s offense and teams were stacking the box against him.

Davis spent much of the season injured and didn’t record his first NFL touchdown until the playoffs against the Patriots, where he had a very impressive game in the Divisional Round. He caught two TD’s and started looking like the receiver we expected him to be.

6. New York Jets-Jamal Adams-S-LSU (2)

Adams immediately became a leader in the Jets’ locker room and was an enforcer on the field. He and fellow 2017 rookie Marcus Maye formed a pretty good safety tandem that should have Jets fans very excited.

7. Los Angeles Chargers-Mike Williams-WR-Clemson (14)

Williams basically did nothing as a rookie. He was limited by injuries, playing 10 games and starting just 1, however he only managed to catch 11 passes for 95 yards and no touchdowns. It’s still early, but this hasn’t been a promising start for the former Clemson star.

8. Carolina Panthers-Christian McCaffrey-RB-Stanford (12)

McCaffrey didn’t put up gaudy rushing stats, as he only ran for 435 yards on 117 carries, but he was utilized far more frequently in the passing game, catching 80 passes for 651 yards. With Jonathan Stewart no longer with the organization, expect an uptick in carries for the former Stanford star.

9. Cincinnati Bengals-John Ross-WR-Washington (23)

Ross, who was famous for posting the fastest 40-yard dash time in Combine history at 4.22, was a nonfactor for the Bengals last season. He played just 3 games due to injury, but even in those games he didn’t amount to anything. He failed to catch a pass and his lone touch was a carry that he fumbled. A pretty poor start to Ross’ career if I do say so myself (and I do).

I was not a fan of taking Mahomes in the first round because I felt he had the steepest learning curve of any quarterback in recent memory, coming from Texas Tech. However he landed in the perfect situation in Kansas City and got a chance to make a start in Week 17, leading the Chiefs to a victory over the Broncos. The Chiefs traded Alex Smith so this is Mahomes’ team now. We’ll have to see how he does with it.

11. New Orleans Saints-Marshon Lattimore-CB-Ohio State (7)

One could argue that Lattimore was 2017’s best rookie. He won Defensive Rookie of the Year and is already considered to be one of the top corners in the game, which says a lot considering he had to cover the likes of Julio Jones and Mike Evans twice each.

People are ripping the Browns for not taking Watson here and trading this pick to the Texans, but to be honest, given how poor they were run last year, I don’t think Watson has the same success in Cleveland that he did in Houston. Before his untimely ACL injury, Watson led the NFL with 19 passing touchdowns and was running away with Offensive Rookie of the Year. He looks like he’s the quarterback of the future for the Texans.

13. Arizona Cardinals-Haason Reddick-EDGE-Temple (9)

Reddick was one of my favorite players in the 2017 class but he didn’t really do much as a rookie. He played in all 16 games but made just 3 starts, recording 2.5 sacks but he did force a couple fumbles. It’s a big step up in competition going from Temple to the NFL so I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt at this stage.

Derek Barnett’s stats were okay overall, however a lot of that was due to just how deep the Eagles were at defensive end, as he had to compete with the likes of Brandon Graham, Chris Long, and Vinny Curry for snaps. However Barnett and Graham teamed up to make one of the most critical plays for the Eagles’ first ever Super Bowl win, when Graham strip-sacked Tom Brady and Barnett recovered. He flashed a lot of potential and could be a force for this Eagles defensive line.

15. Indianapolis Colts-Malik Hooker-S-Ohio State (6)

The Colts finally addressed the defense in last year’s draft and Hooker looks like a good pick. I had him as a Top-10 talent but he slipped to pick number 15 and looked like an absolute ballhawk for the Colts. However his season was cut short due to injury but he still managed to rack up 3 picks in just 7 games.

16. Baltimore Ravens-Marlon Humphrey-CB-Alabama (25)

Humphrey got off to a slow start but he really came on by the end of the year. As you can see from the photo above, the Ravens were trusting him to cover the likes of AJ Green with a playoff berth on the line. Humphrey will likely get more opportunities at opponents’ number 1 receivers in due time.

17. Washington Redskins-Jonathan Allen-DL-Alabama (10)

Like Hooker, Allen was a top-10 talent that fell, though this was due to concerns over his shoulder. The concerns were very real, as that shoulder caused him to miss most of his rookie season. However when he was on the field, Allen was absolutely dominant, particularly against the run. Hopefully an offseason of rehab will help him because the Redskins desperately need a run stuffer.

18. Tennessee Titans-Adoree’ Jackson-CB-USC (N/A)

I thought this was a massive reach by the Titans because I had Jackson as a late-second/early-third round pick due to his lack of size but, credit to him he held his own out there. He was a starter from day 1 and with the Titans’ addition of Malcolm Butler, Jackson can kick inside to the slot to face the shiftier receivers, which is where he will be best utilized.

19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers-OJ Howard-TE-Alabama (4)

Howard had an up-and-down rookie season, though he finished it with 432 yards and 6 touchdowns. Not eye-popping by any means, but tight ends typically have the toughest transition to the NFL given how much they’re asked to do nowadays so I’d say watch out for Howard next season.

20. Denver Broncos-Garrett Bolles-OT-Utah (31)

Bolles had one of the sweeter draft moments when he brought his infant daughter on stage with him to greet Roger Goodell when his name was called. Bolles was a Day 1 starter for the Broncos and while he did suffer through injury problems, he was decent when he was on the field. Probably not going to be an All Pro, but he’ll be a more-than-competent tackle for Denver.

21. Detroit Lions-Jarrad Davis-LB-Florida (28)

Eyebrows were raised when the Lions took Davis over Alabama’s Reuben Foster, but given Foster’s legal situation, this looks like the right choice, especially considering how well Davis played as a rookie. He’s a guy Matt Patricia will have a lot of fun with in his first season as a head coach.

22. Miami Dolphins-Charles Harris-EDGE-Missouri (20)

Harris wasn’t much of a factor for the Dolphins as a rookie, playing in all 16 games but registering just 2 sacks. With Cameron Wake already up there in age, now would be a good time for Harris to start showing he was worth the first round selection.

23. New York Giants-Evan Engram-TE-Ole Miss (24)

Engram wasn’t much of a blocker for the Giants but he was an excellent receiver, which is kind of what was expected of him coming out of college. Engram led all rookie tight ends in receiving yards at 722 and also caught 6 touchdowns for the Giants. He looks like a good complimentary piece to ODell Beckham Jr.

24. Oakland Raiders-Gareon Conley-CB-Ohio State (N/A)

This pick was REALLY controversial because Conley had been accused of rape just weeks before the Draft. I had taken him off my board altogether just out of fear of the allegations being true. However the Raiders took Conley anyway and the charges were later dropped. He only played 2 games due to injury but the Raiders must have liked what they saw because he’s currently slated as their #1 corner.

Peppers struggled as a rookie but he was also playing at a position that didn’t best utilize his abilities. He was playing a lot of free safety where he has to cover a lot of ground rather than nickel corner where he can chase guys around the field, which is what he’s best at. If the Browns can find a centerfielder-type safety (like Minkah Fitzpatrick), then it would allow Peppers to do what he does best.

Takk McKinley got a bit controversial when he got really hyped and passionate after he was selected 26th overall in the Draft, going so far as to drop an F-bomb into Deion Sanders’ mic on live television (which I saw coming a mile away given how much emotion he was showing). I actually found the moment kind of endearing because it shows just how passionate this guy is. He was a situational pass rusher for the Falcons as a rookie and he looked pretty good, registering 6 sacks and forcing 2 fumbles in a limited role. He’s going to have more opportunities this season so watch out for him.

What a trade by the Bills. They move back from 10 to 27, get an extra first rounder in 2018, and use the pick they do get on Tre’Davious White, who was the highest-graded rookie corner by Pro Football Focus (even higher than Lattimore, who won Defensive Rookie of the Year over him). White has already earned the Bills’ #1 corner job and was a big part in Buffalo making the playoffs for the first time in the 21st century.

28. Dallas Cowboys-Taco Charlton-EDGE-Michigan (44)

Charlton was drafted as an insurance policy in case DeMarcus Lawrence left in free agency after the 2017-18 season. Lawrence got franchise tagged so Charlton will have another year to develop alongside the stud pass rusher. He’ll need it, too, because he was mediocre as a rookie, registering just 3 sacks. He did flash some potential, though, but more work needs to be done.

The Browns traded up with the Packers to land Njoku and while his overall stat line wasn’t that great (32 catches for 386 yards and 4 TD’s), it seemed like every time the Browns popped up on the screen when I was watching NFL Redzone the play somehow involved Njoku. I think he’s primed for a big Year 2.

30. Pittsburgh Steelers-TJ Watt-EDGE-Wisconsin (29)

JJ’s little brother had about as good an NFL debut as you could ask for, recording 2 sacks and registering an interception in his first game. He finished the year with 7 sacks and looks like he’s going to be a stud for the Steelers for some time.

This one’s a little tricky. Foster was excellent on the field, however his days with the 49ers may be numbered due to an off-the-field incident. Foster has been accused of domestic violence, where he allegedly punched his girlfriend 8-10 times, which ruptured her ear drum. He was also found in possession of numerous illegal firearms. If convicted, he could face up to 11 years in prison. 49ers GM John Lynch has publicly stated that if Foster is convicted, he will be cut immediately. However they want to wait for the judicial process to conclude because they cut Tramaine Brock before his domestic violence case was over and he was cleared of all charges. But despite great on-field performance, Foster’s NFL career may be in jeopardy if these horrific allegations are true.

This is the pick the Saints acquired from the Patriots for Brandin Cooks and it was one of several home runs the Saints had in this draft class. Ramczyk was seen as a raw talent and people were concerned when he had to enter the starting lineup in week one due to an injury to Zach Strief. However he played excellently at right tackle and is going to start there for the foreseeable future for New Orleans.

So that’s how the first round played out last year. Injuries played a factor for a lot of these guys but you cannot deny they showed a lot of ability. Not a lot of guys who are already looking like busts (Mike Williams and John Ross are the only guys that I can really consider to be in danger of falling into that category). Of course, two of the biggest talents in this class, Alvin Kamara and Kareem Hunt, went in the third round. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with the 2018 class. Of course, you can get your next-day coverage here at Wyman’s Sports. Let me know what you think of the 2017 Draft Class in the comments section below or on Facebook or Twitter @jimwyman10.

Hey, everyone. I’ve got some bad news as it pertains to the blog. I’m going to have to go on hiatus for at least a week. I’ve mentioned a couple times that I’ve got a couple of 10-page papers I need to write for classes. Well their due dates are coming up and I’ve got to buckle down and get to work on them. Considering the amount of work these papers are going to require, I can’t get those done and keep this blog running with the standard I like to keep up. So there won’t be any posts for a little while, which sucks because I just know something big in sports is going to happen while I’m on hiatus. Hell, the Cowboys just released Dez Bryant and I’m not going to be able to do a real reaction on it (I’m surprised, but the more I think about it, I’m actually more surprised I didn’t see it coming). But yeah, the papers I’m writing are about the Hulk Hogan vs Gawker lawsuit and a paper on the ethics of journalists getting pampered by events they’re covering. I’ll also need to revise my Lord of the Rings paper when I get that back (which is supposed to be Sunday). So I’ve got a lot on my plate to say the least. I’ve had some stress-fueled moments where I considered dropping out of college altogether, but that’s just not an option since I basically just need to write these papers to graduate. So this is going to be one of the toughest academic weeks of my life and the blog is just simply going to have to be a casualty for the time being. Don’t worry, it’ll be back before the Draft. No way in Hell am I missing that. Plus, the Draft is the day after the due dates so in the grand scheme of things I should be pretty stress-free by that point. But thanks for understanding and, more importantly, thanks for reading.

-My worst fears have been realized: Celtics guard Kyrie Irving is out for the season. He underwent knee surgery to fix a problem that had been nagging him all year and caused him to sporadically miss time throughout the season. This was something I’ve been worried about since Irving initially started missing time a few months ago. Now the Celtics’ top 2 offseason additions, Irving and Gordon Hayward, are out for the season. I was pretty distraught but a buddy of mine did alleviate my concerns by pointing out to me that this may suck for the 2017-18 Celtics but it’s great for the 2018-19 team. Think about it. The youngsters get a chance to show off their stuff in a more prominent role while Irving and Hayward rest up and get healthy for next season. They probably weren’t ready to unseat the Cavs or defeat the upstart Raptors without Hayward or with a limited Irving, so giving the young guys like Terry Rozier, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown the reigns for the rest of the year will be a good way to advance their careers.

-The Patriots signed wide receiver Jordan Matthews to a 1 year deal, the financials of which are currently unknown. This is a great move. It’s low risk, high reward. Matthews is a wicked talented wideout who has struggled with injuries and drops in his young career. He looked on the brink of a breakout after his second season with the Eagles in 2015 but then the drops started catching up to him and he was dealt to the Bills prior to the 2017 season. Fully healthy, he could have a real impact as a bigger receiver that the Patriots have lacked since Randy Moss.

-Other free agency signings, Marquette King signed with the Broncos after being cut by the Raiders because new head coach Jon Gruden didn’t like his personality (which is that he has a personality. Punters don’t usually have that). He chose division rival Denver for “revenge.” I don’t know exactly how much revenge a punter can exact, but King is a fun punter to watch so I’ll be curious to see how he does with the favorable conditions that Denver poses to kickers and punters. Kony Ealy also signed with the Cowboys to help shore up their pass rush a little bit. He doesn’t solve their problem of a guy opposite Demarcus Lawrence, but he’s a solid rotational option who can provide some value. Just watch Super Bowl L where he came out of nowhere to record 3 sacks, force a fumble, and intercept Peyton Manning.

-The Red Sox stole one from the Rays in their home opener, much like the Rays stole one from the Red Sox in the season opener. David Price was dominant for 7 innings once again, allowing no runs and striking out 5. This his second straight start going 7 innings and allowing no runs to start the season. He hasn’t been dominating but he’s been doing what he needs to win, which is get outs. The concern is the bullpen, as Carson Smith let up a 2-run homer to Matt Duffy in the top of the 8th to give the Rays a 2-0 lead. The bats had also been silenced all game, which has been an issue as aside from Xander Bogaerts, nobody has really been hitting all that consistently. However they seemed to emerge in the bottom of the 9th as they scored 2 runs to tie it up and won in the bottom of the 12th when Hanley Ramirez hit one to the warning track with the bases loaded. The Red Sox starting pitching has been ridiculous to start the season but the bats have been underwhelming. They’re going to need to make some changes because the kind of success the rotation is having right now isn’t sustainable for 162 games and the bats will need to come through more consistently. However, as it is, the Red Sox have won 6 in a row and are sitting at 6-1 with the best record in the American League.

-If James Paxton weren’t Canadian, I’d have to agree with PFT’s sentiment here.

The Eagle got loose and decided to chill on Paxton’s shoulder for a little bit as he was warming up. He did have a pretty strong outing, going 5+ allowing just 2 runs (both came on a 2-run homer by Miguel Sano in the top of the 6th) and struck out 7. It wasn’t enough for the Mariners to beat the Twins, but maybe an eagle landing on Paxton’s shoulder propelled him to the strong outing. You never know with sabermetrics.

That’s really all I got for today, kind of a slow news day in the sports world. Let me know what you think of the topics discussed in the comments section below and on Facebook or Twitter @jimwyman10.

So there will not be a 30 Clubs in 30 Days today. I had the Padres blog written and I was trying to get the pictures in but my hotel’s Wifi was struggling with Getty Images and I tried to refresh everything and lost the blog. Plus I’m expecting to be even busier this week so I do not anticipate being able to post at all this week. I’ll try and find a way to get the rest of the team previews done before Opening Day on March 29. So I will be taking a vacation from the blog until Sunday, maybe Saturday, I’m moving into a new hotel that day and maybe it will have better Wifi. But until that time, no blogs. I apologize in advance for the inconvenience. It sucks, too, because there is SO much free agency news to talk about that it kills me to not give my two cents on the moves. But I will say this: the Titans are trying to become Patriots B by signing away Logan Ryan last year and now Malcolm Butler and Dion Lewis this year. But otherwise, I apologize for any inconvenience, and I look forward to getting back to the blog over the weekend.

Yeah…after a very eventful NBA trade deadline, things have gotten pretty quiet on the sports news front. Sure there was that Ron Borges story about Tom Brady wanting a huge payday that turned out to just be him getting pranked by a WEEI listener pretending to be Brady’s agent, but there’s no way I’d be able to do a 1000 word article on a prank (which is the minimum I shoot for with my posts). Normally when news is this slow I tend to just skip a day of blogs, however I never want to do it twice in one week and I already skipped a day a couple days ago. So here’s just a few things I’m considering doing with the blog since I have nothing to write about that’s sports-related.

-For the month of March, I’m considering doing a 30 clubs in 30 days thing where I go day-by-day previewing each of Major League Baseball’s 30 teams during Spring Training. That’d be starting late February since the MLB season opens on March 29, the earliest MLB has opened that didn’t feature an international series. About a week of this will be during my Spring Break, where I’ll be in Fort Lauderdale, but I won’t be taking a break from the site. If need be, I’ll just write 7 blogs in one day then schedule them out over the course of my stay in Florida. Should any big news happen during this time, I’ll do another blog to give my thoughts.

-I’m still considering branching away from sports from time to time, as a lot of times there really just isn’t anything to talk about in the sporting world, much like today. I mean, Hell, I didn’t even have enough storylines to do a General Sports article. Don’t worry, I won’t be reporting on stupid tabloid shit like the Kardashians or anything like that. I’d probably end up just talking about things I might see in the news or on social media or something or my thoughts about controversial opinions on certain matters (like my fears over the Han Solo movie coming out in May). But again, this would be a rarity as it would only happen on days where sports aren’t active enough.

-I’m also considering trying my hand at satirical articles, though to be honest, I have a hard time putting humor to the page. I like to think I’m a funny person, but when I write, I feel like my sense of humor disappears. Maybe because a lot of my humor is profanity-laden and I’d like to keep this blog relatively professional, but the point is I’m not super confident in the success of that. So that’s on the backburner for now, we’ll see where things go with that.

-During the dog days of summer, it’s going to get tough to write every day when the only sport going on is baseball at a time when the games really don’t mean as much as they do at other times. In preparation for that, I’m open to suggestions about some segments I could do. For example, Top 10 lists on literally anything, doesn’t even have to be sports-related. It could be top 10 strongest outfield arms, crazy moments in baseball history, top 10 worst contracts, etc. Or a blog where I just get really drunk and try and type out my thoughts on certain issues happening in sports at that moment. Though that would probably be better for podcasting or video where I’ll have my actual voice and limited editing power to retract statements made. Speaking of segues…

-One thing that I’m really interested in trying out is podcasting, unfortunately I don’t have the means or funds to do so. Supporting my Patreon would certainly help, but I don’t like pushing things on people. Plus I’d need a co-host to have a back-and-forth with, another thing that I just simply don’t have. So if you want me to expand on the media outlets I hit, please support my Patreon, linked above.

That’s basically all I’ve got for you guys today. Instead of letting me know what you think of things, I’m actually going to ask that you guys use the comments section and my Facebook and Twitter @jimwyman10 to give me some suggestions about what you’d all like to see on the blog. Thanks for reading.

The NFL offseason hasn’t even started yet and it’s already more interesting than MLB’s. There probably wasn’t a trade in the world with more implications to it than this one. The Kansas City Chiefs trade quarterback Alex Smith to the Washington Redskins for cornerback Kendall Fuller and a third round pick. The Redskins followed that up by signing Smith to a 4-year $94M extension, $71M guaranteed to add on to the one year left on his deal that he already had with KC. Smith is coming off a career year in Kansas City as he finished with 4042 yards passing with 26 TD’s and 5 INT’s and was the highest-rated QB in the NFL with a rating of 104.7 in 15 games played. Smith now becomes the quarterback of a Redskins team that disappointed in 2017, going 7-9 and missing the playoffs.

The Chiefs look to be all in on Pat Mahomes, it seems. Mahomes was the 10th pick in the 2017 Draft out of Texas Tech and a guy the Chiefs forfeited their 2018 first rounder to the Bills in order to acquire. Mahomes got to start in Week 17 and he was pretty solid, going 22-35 with 284 yards with no TD’s and 1 INT, as he led the Chiefs to a 27-24 victory over the Broncos. Mahomes has probably the most talented arm I’ve ever seen but he came out of a college system at Texas Tech that translates about as poorly to the NFL as humanly possible. He didn’t appear in an NFL game until that Week 17 matchup against the Broncos and while he still does have some things to work on, he did a lot of things to be excited about.

But if I’m Kirk Cousins, I am PISSED OFF. Cousins had been the constantly franchise-tagged starting quarterback for the last few years now, even leading the Redskins to a playoff berth in 2015. He kept trying to get a contract extension to be in DC long-term but the Redskins refused to give it to him, instead opting to franchise tag him every year and basically make every year a contract year for him. Then the Redskins go and trade for a guy to replace you that has one year left on his deal and he immediately gets a huge extension despite not having taken a snap for the team yet. Kind of a dick move, Snyder. If there is a silver lining to all of this it’s that now Cousins can get out of this toxic relationship and play for a team that will be more than willing to give him the extension that he’s earned (because let’s face it, Cousins is in the discussion for top 10 quarterbacks in the league right now).

So who are some teams that should make a run at Cousins? Well for starters the Cleveland Browns. Now yes, Cleveland is a place where quarterbacks go to die, but Cousins is a far better quarterback than anybody that has passed through Cleveland since their revival in 1999. If anybody can break the streak of horrendousness, it’d be Cousins. Plus this draft class is not very Browns-friendly so perhaps Cousins would be the safer route to go. He’ll command a lot of money, sure, but the Browns don’t really have any big contracts and are expected to have over $100M in cap space this offseason.

Another team that should consider Cousins is the Broncos. There’s a lot of talent on this team but they’re being held back by poor quarterback play. They’ve gotten the most out of Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch hasn’t developed the way they’d hoped. Kirk Cousins could be just what they need to get back into not only playoff contention, but maybe even Super Bowl contention. They’re expected to have about $28M in cap space this offseason so they’ll probably have to shed a contract or two before they’ll have the space to sign Cousins, but it’d definitely be a sacrifice worth making in order to return the team to its former glory. Plus the Broncos pick 5th and the two best quarterbacks in this year’s class, Josh Rosen and Sam Darnold, will both likely be gone by then so free agency may be the safest route.

The Jets are another team that should be in on Cousins. They pick after the Broncos at #6 in the 2018 Draft so they’re just as unlikely to land Rosen and Darnold as Denver is. Plus the Jets will have the cap space, as they’re expected to have about $79M in available funds this offseason. The Jets got the most out of the 38 year-old Josh McCown and it’s high time they got younger at the position because Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg are definitely not the answers for the future.

The Arizona Cardinals could also be a team that could take interest in Cousins. After Carson Palmer’s retirement, there’s a huge hole at the quarterback position that will need to be filled if they want to contend in the very difficult NFC West. They’ve got about as much cap space as the Broncos so they will likely need to cut some dead weight to be able to afford Cousins, but again, like with Denver, it’d be worth it. The need is also greater for Arizona because they’re picking 15th this year and not only will Rosen and Darnold be gone by then, but probably Josh Allen and Baker Mayfield, too.

The Bills ought to be interested in Cousins because they pick 21st and 22nd thanks to a trade with the Chiefs and unless they use that package to trade up into the top 5, there’s no way they’re landing any of the top quarterback prospects. They’ve got about $31M in space so if they signed Cousins, they probably wouldn’t be able to get anybody else without shedding some contracts. The Bills made the playoffs for the first time in the 21st century last season but poor quarterback play from Tyrod Taylor buried them in the Wild Card Game against the Jaguars. Speaking of segues…

The Jaguars are the last team that I think should be in on Cousins. Their lack of faith in Blake Bortles was a big factor in their losing the AFC Championship game to the Patriots despite the fact that Bortles was playing some of his best football in that game. Signing Cousins could be the difference in blowing a 10-point 4th quarter lead in the AFC Championship game to not only going to the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history, but winning it. They’ve only got about $25M in free space so they’re going to have to lose a few deals before they’re able to make a run at Cousins.

So with the trade of Alex Smith, this offseason just got a Hell of a lot more interesting, especially as it pertains to Kirk Cousins. Let me know what you think of this trade in the comments section below or on Facebook or Twitter @jimwyman10.